The invention relates to holders for comestible products and, more particularly, to holders for supporting tacos in a vertical orientation. A recent development in both the fast food take-out market and the home-prepared foods market is the increased demand for unusual cuisines, including, for example, Mexican and Mediterranean foods. Many times these foods are prepared by filling a pastry shell, tortilla-like shell, pocket bread, Gyros bread, hot dog bun, or taco shell with a combination of condiments and fillings such as cooked ground beef, chopped pork or lamb, shredded cheese, shredded lettuce, chopped tomato, mayonnaise, onions, and many others. During the preparation of these foods, the edible wrapper such as the taco shell must be maintained in a position such that the opening being filled with the condiments is accessible and the condiment fillings do not fall out of the shell or other edible wrapper. Because the shells, wrappers, and buns are edible, these comestible products usually are eaten by hand rather than by the use of utensils. In the usual case, this means that the preparation and consumption of the comestible products requires they be handled a certain number of times before they are completely consumed. Eating these foods oftentimes presents problems since the aforementioned fillings are usually loose, juicy and tend to fall out of their shells with repeated handling.
The patent literature does show some support devices for food products, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 4,501,367, issued Feb. 26, 1985 to Potts claims a stand and cylindrical bowl which support a folded food shell in an upright position. This is a complicated and expensive solution to the problem.
Several U.S. Patents claim devices for supporting taco shells but these devices, however, lack adequate side support to render singular units sufficiently stable. Examples of such unstable devices include those devices claimed in U.S. Pat. Nos. D236,786, issued Apr. 13, 1982 to Vivian Kohane; D278,199, issued to Norman Richards; D273,746, issued May 8, 1984 to Dale Hunt; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,535,891 issued Aug. 20, 1985 to Brian Murdick and William Haase.
Several other United States patents present complicated and/or expensive designs for food holders including U.S. Pat. No. 4,362,247, issued Dec. 7, 1982 to Robert Rueda; U.S. Pat. No. 4,270,660, issued June 2, 1981 to Arthur Putt; U.S. Pat. No. D279,851, issued July 30, 1985 to Michael Willis; U.S. Pat. No. D263,191, issued Mar. 2, 1982 to Joseph Moore; U.S. Pat. No. 4,501,367, issued Feb. 26, 1985 to C. Potts; and U.S. Pat. No. D217,593, issued May 19, 1970 to James Loven.
Several patents claim taco holders or supports for other foods or materials wherein the design consists of four vertical posts positioned at the corners of a square. See for example, U.S. Pat. No. D267,918, issued Feb. 15, 1983 to Lasher; U.S. Pat. No D238,543, issued Jan. 27, 1976 to George Lechner; U.S. Pat. No. D273,929, issued May 22, 1984 to Ernest Rolli, Jr.
Several patents also address holders for tacos and other foods wherein a plurality of such foods are to be prepared and maintained simultaneously as, for example, in a restaurant or a home kitchen. Such a design is claimed in U.S. Pat. No. D275,256, issued Aug. 28, 1984 to Deana Gilliam.
It is thus known to orient a plurality of taco shells or a unitary taco shell, or similar comestibles topped with condiments, vertically upwardly for filling and various devices could be used for that purpose, if desired. Unfortunately, no completely acceptable holder is available for supporting tacos or similar comestibles topped condiments, in a vertically upward orientation for consumption. Although several devices exist which theoretically could hold a taco or similar comestible, all of these devices suffer drawbacks such as excessive manufacturing costs due to complicated designs and excess materials, difficulty in cleaning, lack of stability sufficient to support a taco shell which has become top-heavy with a high center of gravity due to being filled with various foods, or lack of attractiveness to the consumer. Attractiveness to the consumer includes such features as simplicity, size, ease of storage, and constructed of materials safe for use in microwave ovens, and which can withstand automatic dishwashers. Another attraction to the consumer would be a holder for tacos and other comestibles which is constructed of inexpensive, and therefore disposable, materials.